Comal group calls for creating groundwater district

Updated 12:04 am, Saturday, October 27, 2012

NEW BRAUNFELS — Comal County residents could vote in 2014 — for the third time since 1995 — on whether to create a groundwater conservation district here.

A citizen panel Thursday recommended forming the Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. County commissioners created the panel last year amid state pressure to either join an existing district or form one in the fast-growing county.

“We've probably come to the time where we need to have this district,” County Commissioner Jan Kennady said.

Most Hill Country counties are in groundwater districts, which can limit pumping, require registration of larger wells and establish conservation plans.

The 25-member stakeholders group on Thursday proposed a countywide district, funded by pumping fees on wells capable of producing 25,000 gallons or more a day and a property tax of no more than .00375 cents per $100 in property value.

That levy would generate about $250,000 annually and cost the owner of a $180,000 house $7 a year, said Larry Hull, a member of the panel that has studied the issue since January.

No fees or metering would be required on small domestic wells, said Hull, pitching the district as “a great insurance policy” that would provide local control over a vital resource.

“Obviously, nobody wants somebody from another county telling them what to do,” he told commissioners.

If commissioners formally endorse the plan, as expected, legislation would be needed to clear the way for the appointment by commissioners of an interim groundwater district board, not before next September at the earliest.

That panel would then call a referendum — likely for no sooner than May 2014 — on whether to create the district and to grant it taxing authority.

Voters would also cast ballots on candidates to fill the district's five-member board, composed of one director from each commissioner precinct and one at-large director.

Stakeholder Bennie Newman said similar proposals defeated by local voters in 1995 and 2001 called for forming districts with taxing limits of 5 cents and 2 cents, respectively.

Dissenting stakeholder Mike Maurer Sr., who opposes creating a district, said fellow members rejected his suggestion to exempt all existing domestic wells in Comal County from any regulations or fees established by a district.